Florida Sentinel Bulletin

BY IRIS B. HOLTON
Sentinel City Editor

Last Wednesday morning the actions of an aggressive driver led to an accident on Interstate I-4. Two people, who were the parents of 13 children, died.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the accident took place shortly after 6 a.m., on Interstate 4, at Alexander Street. Michael and Letara Bennett, 32, were driving their 2004 Envoy in the outside lane.

An unidentified driver changed lanes from the outside to the inside lane. In the process, the driver cut off Michael Bennett, 36, and caused him to lose control as he took evasive action. Investigating officers said Bennett steered onto the inside emergency lane, then over-corrected to the right.

He struck the left side of a 2007 Hino, driver by Carlos Santos, 44, of Kissimmee. After striking the vehicle, the Bennett vehicle overturned ejecting both Mr. and Mrs. Bennett, and came to rest on its roof. Both Mr. and Mrs. Bennett died in the accident. Santos was not injured.

A Tampa native, Michael Bennett, 37, attended the public schools of Hillsborough County. He graduated from Jefferson High School.

His daughter, Ms. Nicole Bennett, said her father moved to Lakeland after he married his wife about five years ago. The couple had a blended family of 13 children ranging in age of 5 to 19 years old. He was the father of nine children and she was the mother of four children.

Ms. Bennett said her father had been working at Coca Cola as a truck driver for the past two years. However, he did not have any life insurance and the family needs help with funeral arrangements. Aikens Funeral Home is in charge of handling arrangements.

Mrs. Letara Green Bennett was a native of Dade City and was working at the Waffle House, in Dade City at the time of her death. Middleton Funeral Home is in charge of handling arrangements for Mrs. Bennett.

FHP Seeks Information
The vehicle that initially cut off the Bennett vehicle, left without stopping.

The Florida Highway Patrol said the vehicle is described as a dark colored compact car. Anyone with any information about the vehicle is asked to call the Florida Highway Patrol at (813) 631-4020. The accident remains under investigation.

The David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts’ Next Generation Ballet (NGB) will present Swan Lake on Saturday, May 12 in Ferguson Hall.

Next Generation Ballet’s award-winning dancers will be joined in Swan Lake by several guest artists. One of the performers will be Katarina Smith, who recently performed before a sold-out audience in New York City at the Lincoln Center.

This two act world premiere version of Swan Lake, featuring marvelous sets and costumes, has been set and choreographed after the original choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, by NGB Artistic Director Peter Stark and Ivonne Lemus, formerly of Ballet Nacional de Cuba.

As part of the non-profit Straz Center for the Performing Arts, the Patel Conservatory offers camps and classes for children and adults of all experience levels in all kinds of dance, music and theater.

Katarina is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Rudolph (Tony) (Anita) Smith. The talented young lady attends Progress Village Middle Magnet School of the Arts.

BY IRIS B. HOLTON
Sentinel City Editor

A 26-year-old Tampa native was killed Sunday evening. The westbound lanes where the accident occurred on the Memorial Causeway Bridge was closed for several hours.

According to the Clearwater Police Department, the accident happened around 7:25 p.m. police said James Everestt Williams, III, was riding his 2006 Suzuki Motorcycle. As he reached the crest of the bridge and began to descend, he lost control of the motorcycle.

Williams, who died at the scene, was ejected from the motorcycle, police said.

Williams was the only son of Mr. and Mrs. James E. (President Warren) Williams, II. He attended the public schools of Hillsborough County. He attended Jefferson High School, but graduated from Tarpon Springs High School, his father said.

After reaching adulthood, the young man obtained employment at M & I Metals, in Odessa and relocated to that area.

His father said the young man loved to play football and had tried out with the Tampa Bay Storms. He also enjoyed fishing, swimming, cars and motorcycles.

“This is a hard pill to swallow. He was my only son,” Williams said.

He further stated that his son was not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident.

In addition to his parents, Williams is survived by a fiancée, a 2-year-old son, 3 sisters, and other family members and friends.

Funeral services for Williams were incomplete at press time. Wilson’s Funeral Home is in charge of handling arrangements.

BY LEON B. CREWS
Sentinel Staff Writer

Demetrius Jenkins, owner of CP Danner Construction, said in spite of the up and down nature of the real estate industry, since he started his company 8 years ago, business has really grown.

Jenkins attended King High School and Hillsborough Community College, where he played basketball. He also helped his late mother, Carol Danner, and his grandmother at Carol’s Diner on 29th Street.

Jenkins said he always wanted to be his own boss.

“I never considered getting into the restaurant business, although that’s what my mother and grandmother did. I knew that a lot of successful people began with real estate, so that’s what I decided to get into.

“Now, I own a lot of properties in East Tampa, and I have developed some of them, including the construction of three homes.”

Jenkins said he built his own home, and is fortunate to have made great decisions in the real estate business.

“Since getting into real estate and opening my own company, I’ve gotten great feedback, and I work very hard to make sure my product is quality, because more is always expected from Black business owners.

“The market is very competitive now, and it doesn’t help that we don’t have a lot of Black-owned construction or roofing companies.”

Jenkins said he recently sold his family’s restaurant to First Baptist Church of College Hill, and they are using it as a Youth Center. “What I’d really like to do is to do more to help our young people, especially the males. I’d love to be a mentor.

“I have a son who has overcome a lot to now be a pretty good football player at the University of South Florida. I also participate in the Great American Teach-In every year.”

Jenkins said he has personally designed some of his projects, and has a staff of 8 people with his company. He also said when he uses sub-contractors on his projects, he tries to always use African American owned companies.

BY IRIS B. HOLTON
Sentinel City Editor

Word spread rapidly throughout the neighborhood that a popular Tampa man was killed Tuesday evening after hitting a fence on his 4-wheeler. Mr. Freddie Jeffery, Jr., would have celebrated his 39th birthday the next day.

Instead, his mother, Ms. Armenta “Ms. Tee” Price, said the family had to host a birthday party in his remembrance combined with a candlelight vigil.

According to police, Mr. Jeffery was traveling south on Sanchez Street towards 21st Avenue in East Tampa, when he lost control of the vehicle and was thrown off the vehicle, striking his head on a fence pole. Mr. Jeffery died at a local hospital shortly after the accident.

His brother, Aubrey “Puff” Pierce said he witnessed the accident. There was a girl driving a blue Mustang, who allegedly made a wide turn, into his brother’s lane. Both of them went the same way trying to avoid each other. “He was trying to keep from hitting the blue Mustang, causing him to hit the fence,” he said.

The impact caused every bone in his body to be broken.

Pierce further stated that he and his brother were in the process of forming a company known as Sanchez Boys Entertainment.

“He loved that Street and that’s why we named it that. We had planned to have a towing service and a promotional show. We are going to keep his dream going,” Pierce stated.

Whether known in the community as “Superman,” “Fast Freddy,” “Nut Buddy,” or “Too Sweet,” Ms. Price said her son was very popular. “He was a very, very loving person and everyone got along with him. There were more than 300 people at the hospital that night,” she said.

Ms. Price further stated that her son was an experienced 4-wheel operator and fell in love with all terrain vehicles around the age of 16.

Born in Quincy, Florida, Mr. Jeffery was raised in Tampa. The son of Ms. Price and Freddie Jeffery, Sr., of Quincy, he attended the public schools of Hillsborough County and graduated from Gary Adult High School.

He was working at a car wash at the time of his death.

Ms. Price said she last spoke with her son the day of the accident. “He told me that he loved me and he would never put another woman before me. He said I was #1.

“He told me that my Mother’s Day gift was coming early this year. He was going to get me a house because he didn’t want me to live in apartments anymore. He was my baby; rest in peace, baby, we love you dearly, she said.

In addition to his parents and brother, Mr. Jeffery is survived by two sisters, 5 children, and two granddaughters, one being 12 days old.

Funeral services for Mr. Jeffery were incomplete at press time. Ray Williams Funeral Home is in charge of handling arrangements.

TALLAHASSEE — Senator Arthenia Joyner (D-Tampa) officially became Chairperson of the Florida Legislative Black Caucus, an organization dedicated to championing issues and legislation of importance to the Black community throughout Florida.

“I’m thrilled to have this chance to lead the Caucus through next year’s legislative session. The needs of the state will continue to be our primary focus, especially as the economy is far from a full recovery and minimum wage jobs still dominate the want ads,” Senator Joyner said.

Senator Joyner, who was elected to the Senate in 2006 and currently serves as the Senate Democratic Caucus’ Pro Tem, succeeds Representative Mia Jones (D-Jacksonville) as the Black Caucus Chair.

The Caucus’ leadership team consists of: Rep. Alan Williams (D-Tallahassee), Vice Chair, Rep. Mack Bernard (D-West Palm Beach), Secretary, Rep. Gwyn Clarke-Reed (D-Deerfield Beach), Parliamentarian, and Rep. Betty Reed (D-Tampa), Treasurer.

The Florida Legislative Black Caucus is comprised of the 24 African American members of the Legislature. Its priorities include minority health disparities, judicial and gubernatorial appointments, restoration of civil rights, the disproportionate incarceration of African Americans, adequate funding of historically Black colleges and universities as well as lawmakers’ compliance with their constitutional obligation to support high quality public education in Florida’s K-12 schools, and boosting state investment in minority businesses to spur greater job creation.

Senator Joyner, an attorney, previously served in the House of Representatives. She has been a passionate advocate in the areas of criminal justice, human rights, and women’s issues, and has served on both national and international boards and organizations.

Her term as Black Caucus Chair will run from May 1, 2012 until the conclusion of the 2013 Legislative Session.

Elethea Dampier said her adopted daughter, Chekayla Dampier, was not ready to have a baby.

“She was involved in a relationship with a married man, and she probably thought by getting pregnant, that would keep them together,” said Ms. Dampier.

Ms. Dampier said she thinks it was the rejection by her boyfriend that caused Chekayla to take her frustrations out on her infant son, Emilio Bautista.

Chekayla is in jail for holding 7-week-old Emilio under a faucet of hot water, and leaving him with severe burns covering his body. Emilio died Sunday from his injuries at Tampa General Hospital’s Burn Unit.

Ms. Dampier gave some insight on why this incident happened, and some history on Chekayla and Emilio.

“We knew she didn’t have transportation, and the baby might be neglected. She was abused by her mother when she was small, so we adopted her and her older sister, who died of Lupus last year at the age of 20.

“Chekayla would run away a lot and enjoyed hanging out. She told us she didn’t like school and wasn’t going. We tried so hard to help her and urged her to take care of the baby. She just wasn’t ready to be a mom.”

Ms. Dampier said she wishes Chekayla would have called them and asked for help before hurting the baby.

“I just found out that the baby had been abused for a long time before this happened. I tried to get the Department of Children and Families involved, but they kept coming up with excuses for not doing their job. DCF had a week to get that baby away from Chekayla, and dropped the ball. I called them and told them what was going on before this incident happened, and they still did nothing.”

Ms. Dampier said she will be looking getting help to investigate DCF’s actions, because she’s not going to be satisfied until she knows for a fact they did try to help Emilio.

Pasco County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson, Kevin Doll, said because the case involving Chekayla Dampier is ongoing, they cannot comment at this time on any issue regarding an abuse investigation by the Pasco County Department of Children and Families, or the finds by their Child Protection Investigator.

At the time of Emilio’s death, the family had no funds for a funeral service, and are asking for help with expenses. Ms. Dampier said all they want is a closed viewing and a small service.

Anyone who wants to make a donation for Emilio Bautista should call Doby Funeral Home in Tarpon Springs at (727) 942-0515.

Mother Charged With Murder
On Wednesday, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office announced that Chekayla Dampier, 18, was officially charged with second degree murder in the death of her 7-week-old son, Emilio Bautista.

In November 2011, the frustration Johneather Winkfield felt reached its peak. She was involved in a serious domestic issue that involved her son, who has Sickle Cell.

“I decided to contact the producers of the show to see if they would let me appear and address my problem. My problem was my son’s father was denying him because he has Sickle Cell.”

In December, Ms. Winkfield and her son were flown to Connecticut where the show is aired, put up in a luxurious hotel, and treated like royalty. “They took care of everything, including our travel expenses and meals. “On the show, they paid for a DNA test, and I confronted my son’s father and his girlfriend. The whole thing was very dramatic.”

Ms. Winkfield said the show was aired February 8th, and she was surprised so many people saw it.

“When I got back to Tampa, I got a lot of praise for the way I carried myself on the show. “I was nervous, but I managed to make it through the show.”

Ms. Winkfield said appearing on the show gave her a lot of contact with other single mothers and mothers with loved ones that have Sickle Cell.

“I’d like to be a part of a group that helps us deal with Sickle Cell, and put more information out there about what the disease really is and how it is treated.

“If there is one thing I will always cherish is my experience of being on a live television show. I actually met P-Diddy at the airport. We spoke, and he gave me a wave and a smile when he left.”

Ms. Winkfield said if it takes going public with your domestic problems, don’t be afraid.

“If the only way you can get results is to put it on national television, then don’t be ashamed to do that. “I still have to pinch myself about being on the show. No matter where I go, people who I’ve never met before recognize me from being on the show, and they want to talk to me about the experience.”

Ms. Winkfield said as far as the Sickle Cell is concerned she monitors her son constantly, and appreciates the support she’s gotten from the local Sickle Cell organization.

Reporter Leon B. Crews can be reached at (813) 248-0724, or e-mailed at Lcrews@flsentinel.com.

On Monday, Tampa Police were called to 8218 North Brooks Street in Sulphur Springs.

When they arrived, they were told that the bodies of a man and woman had been found dead inside a residence.

According to  spokesperson, Laura McElroy, two children had stopped by the house a little after 1:30 p.m., after getting out of school to say hello to their family members. When the children went inside the house, they reportedly found the body of a man in one area of the house and the body of a woman in another area. Both had been shot to death.

Neither victim has been identified, and no suspects information released.